Thill-coupling.



No. 886,578. PATENTED MAY 5, 1908. G. G. BRADLEY.

THILL 0O UPLING.

APPLICATION IILBD-NOV.19.1907.

CHRISTOPHER C. BRADLEY, OF SYRACUSE, NEW YORK.

THILL-COUPLING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 5, 1908.

Application filed November 19, 1907. Serial No. 402,827.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHRISTOPHER C. BRAD- LEY, of Syracuse, in the countyof Onondaga, in the State of New York, have invented new and usefulImprovements in Thill-Oouplings, of which the following, taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings, is a full, clear, and exactdescription.

This invention relates to certain improvements in thill couplings of thequick shift type and refers more particularly to a packing or sleeve ofsuitable material clamped between the coupled parts to prevent contactof one of the coupling sections with the other to thereby reduce theincidental friction, wear and noise to a minimum.

The particular style of coupling to which my improved packing isspecially adapted is commonly known as the spherical knuckle type inwhich one of the coupling elements is provided with a spherical memberadapted to be held in and released from the grasp of a pair of jaws, oneof which is movable relatively to the other and yieldingly held in itsclosed position to automatically take up the wear.

In my former patent No. 609,928, issued Aug. 30, 1898, I have shown a sherical packing split through one side an truncated at the ends andadapted to be placed over and upon the spherical portion of the couplingand to be grasped by the jaws and while this former spherical acking isparticularly effective and desira le I have found that I can form asimilar packing from narrower strips of leather split through one sideand pressed into semi-spherical form which when brought together form aspherical packing divided midway between its ends at substantially rightangles to its axis, such ends being perforated and, therefore, truncatedfor the rece tion of the coupling in.

he particular object 1n dividing this packing at substantially rightangles to its axis is that the lengthwise slits of each semi-sphericalshell may be moved out of registration with one another so as to breakthe continuity of the longitudinal slit from end to end thereby bringingportions of the acking of one-half section opposite to the s its of theother half section and reducing by half the possibility of entering ofdirt into the bearing should the longitudinal slit be exposed at theopen side of the jaws.

Another purpose of this construction is that the opposite semi-sphericalsections after being adjusted so that their longitudinal slits are outof alinement with each other may be reunited at one point by a stapledriven through the meeting edges and clenched against the sphericalknuckle thereby pre-' venting accidental removal or loss of the packingwhen the thills or pole is being re moved.

Other objects and uses will be brought out in the following description.

In the drawingsFigure 1 is a side elevation of a thill coupling shown asoperatively mounted uponan axle with my im roved packing grasped betweenthe aws. ig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken on line 2-2, Fig. 1.Fig. 3 is a top lan of the coupling pin and my improved packing mountedthereon. Fig. 4 is a pers ective View of the detached spherical pac ringshowing the semi-spherical sections as united at their meeting edges.Figs. 5 and 6 are perspective views of the opposite semi-sphericalpacking sections.

In order to demonstrate the practicability of my invention, I have showna thill coupling comprising a fixed jaw 1, a movable jaw 2- hinged atthe front end to the fixed jaw -1, and a coupling pin 3. for a sphericalknuckle or bearing 4- around which is fitted my improved sphericalpacking 5 of leather or other suitable material, said spherical packingbeing provided with truncated ends having openings 6 therein and is alsodivided circumferentially or at right angles to its axis midway betweenits truncated ends forming.

opposite spherical sections 7 and 7 each of which is splitlongitudinally at 8 through one side to enable said semi-sphericalsections to be sprung apart and placed over the coupling pin and fittedupon the opposite ends of the spherical bearing 4- with their basesabutting against each other. These semi-spherical sections arepreferably formed to the desired shape in a suitable press so that theywill retain. their form, which press may be one of the thill couplingsor any other device capable of receiving the blanks and pressing theminto shape around a spherical knuckle or die. The manner of formingthese sections either before or at the time of application to the thillcoupling is immaterial so long as they are brought into 1 ing aspherical portion in combination with conformity with the sphericalsurface of the a spherical packing divided circumferencoupling pin withtheir meeting edges in tially midway between its ends forming opcloseproximity.

hen the spherical packing sections are formed the meeting edges at theirlongitudinal division are sprung apart suflicient to allow them to besprung over the opposite end of the spherical knuckle 4 with the basesof said sections injuxta-position after which one or the other of saidsections is rotated independently of the other to bring the longitudinalslits out of alinement with each other as best seen in Fig. 3, saidpacking sections being usually adjusted circumferentially so as to bringboth slits out of registration with the open sides of the jaws whereuponthe jaws which are provided With inner concave or spherical bearingfaces are brought together to grasp and inclose the greater portion ofthe packing at opposite sides of the coupling pin after which themovable jaw may be held in its closed position by a movable link 9 whichis pivoted at one end to a lever 10, the latter being in turn pivoted toone end of a U-shape spring 11-, said spring being pivoted upon thelower end of one of the bolts 12 of a clip -13 so as to enable thespring with the lever 10 and the link thereon to be swung laterally whenthe link 9 is thrown out of engagement with the movable jaw.

In some instances after the semi-spherical sections have been adjustedto bring their longitudinal slits out of alinement with each. other itmay be desired to tie the meeting edges or faces of said sectionstogether at one point and this may be done by simply driving a staple-14- through said meeting edges and clenching said staple against theinclosed spherical knuckle l thereby permanently holding the sphericalsections in their adjusted position relatively to each other andpreventing accidental displacement of the spherical packing whenremoving the coupling pins from the jaws.

One of the advantages in dividing the spherical sections midway betweenits ends at right angles to its axis is that I am enabled to usenarrower strips of leather or other material from which the packing isformed but the principal objects are to shorten the longitudinal slit bybringing the slits of each section out of registration with each otherso that at least one of them will be covered by one or the other of thejaws thus reducing the liability of accumulations of dust or dirt uponthe spherical bearing or knuckle and at the same time making it easierto spring the meeting edges of each section apart placing it on thecoupling pin, especially when these sections are formed under highpressure.

What I claim is: 1. In a thill coupling, a coupling pin havositesemi-spherical sections, each section,

being split longitudinally through one side.

2. In a thill coupling, acoupling pin having a spherical portion incombination with a spherical packing divided circumferentially midwaybetween its ends forming op osite semi-spherical sections, each sectioneing split longitudinally through one side, one of said sections beingad usted circumferentially to bring its longitudinal slit out ofalinement with that of the other section.

3. In a thill coupling, a coupling pin having a spherical bearing, incombination with a spherical packing having open truncated ends anddivided at substantially right angles to its axis between its ends, andmeans for tying the edges together at one point leaving the remainingportions of said meeting edges free to spring apart.

4. In a thill coupling, a coupling pin having a spherical bearing, incombination with a spherical packing having open truncated ends anddivided at substantially right angles to its axis between its ends,means for tying the edges together at one point leaving the remainingportions of said meeting edges free to spring apart, each packingsection being split longitudinally through one side.

5. In a thill coupling, a coupling pin having a spherical bearing, incombination with a spherical packing having open truncated ends anddivided at substantially right angles to its axis between its ends,means for tying the edges together at one point leaving the remainingportions of said meeting edges free to spring apart, each packingsection being split longitudinally through one side, said packingsections being adjusted rela tively to each other to bring. theirlongitudinal slits out of alinement.

6. In combination with a pair of jaws, a coupling pin of a thillcoupling, a packing surrounding the coupling pin and dividedcircumferentially at right angles to its axis substantially midwaybetween its ends, each packing section being split longitudinally throuh one side.

7. n combination with a pair of jaws, a coupling pin of a thillcoupling, a packin surrounding the coupling pin and dividecircumferentially at right angles to its axis substantially midwaybetween its ends, each packing section being split longitudinallythrough one side and adjusted relatively to the other section to bringthe longitudinal slit of one section out of alinement with the other.

8. In combination with a air of jaws, a coupling pin of a thillcoupling, a packing surrounding the coupling pin and dividedcircumferentially at right angles to its axis substantially midwaybetween its ends, each packing section being split longitudinallythrough one side and adjusted relativel to the other section to bringthe longitudinal slit of one section out of alinement with the other,and means for tying the meeting edges of said sections together at onepoint. I

In witness whereof I have hereun hand this 5th day of November 19Witnesses.

H. E. CHASE, C. M. MCCORMAoK.

to set my 07 CHRISTOPHER C. BRADLEY.

